


A little gift

by Jaylie



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F, Fluff, S3E02: Been There Done That, They're not in an official romantic relationship but y'know, Total Fluff, Xena can't deal with this, hickey, innocent Gabrielle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaylie/pseuds/Jaylie
Summary: The answer to: "How did Xena end up with a hickey?"
Relationships: Gabrielle/Xena
Comments: 12
Kudos: 93





	A little gift

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo hello Xena fandom! I wrote some one-shots to release a little of the huge fangirling going on in my head while discovering the series this summer and I thought maybe someone would be interested to read it!  
> In my point of view, in season 3 they still aren't really in a romantic relationship BUT stuff are very ambiguous, so I imagined how this hickey ended up on Xena's neck!  
> Please consider leaving a review if you liked it since it's a first one in this fandom :)

Gabrielle had laid her bedroll next to Xena’s, on the dirt warmed by the fire nearby. They had found a small clearing in the forest. According to Xena, the place was supposed to be safe; they were between two peaceful cities. Gabrielle was watching the night sky, almost cloudless with its billions of stars, and the song of the crickets soothed her. She felt grateful to be alive, to be happy, to be living her dream of adventure.

A shadow, and Xena was suddenly lying on her own bedroll, her upper arm on her forehead, her eyes shut already, sighing with satisfaction.

“We might get our first real night of sleep since we left Moresia, so enjoy it,” she said without looking at Gabrielle.

But Gabrielle did look at her. She sat up straight and leaned on her elbow to have a better view of her friend’s face. It was certainly not the first time that she had noticed the beauty of Xena’s features, her strong jawline and cheekbones, the delicate curves of her mouth, but it still amazed her, and she still found pleasure in observing them.

“Are you staring at me?”

Of course Xena felt this kind of thing. When she opened her eyes, Gabrielle did not look away, but smiled a little.

“You’re just so beautiful,” she admitted without shame. An amused smile appeared on Xena’s lips and she slightly raised one of her eyebrows.

“You’ve already said that,” she teased.

Gabrielle finally stopped staring and crossed her legs.

“Can I ask you a … a personal question?”

Xena shut her eyes again.

“Fire away.”

“Did you… Did you ever get a … hickey?” she asked hesitantly.

Xena raised her eyebrows, but in surprise this time.

“A hickey?” she snorted. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh. Well, when I was with Perdicas… He did that to me once, and it was nice. And then it’s like wearing a little gift of someone you love for a while.”

“You don’t need to love anyone to give a hickey, Gabrielle,” Xena answered almost automatically, but then she cursed herself. Why did she have to spoil Gabrielle’s romantic conception of stuff like that? “But it’s surely better if you do,” she awkwardly added, opening her eyes. Gabrielle seemed somehow preoccupied by this hickey story.

“So, you did get one, didn’t you?”

Xena shrugged. “When I was a teenager, yeah, probably.”

She actually more or less remembered getting and giving more than one, but she didn’t want to remind Gabrielle of how sexually active she once had been.

“And did you like it?”

This time Xena frowned and sat up.

“Why do you ask that?”

Gabrielle nervously scratched her hair and smiled awkwardly. “I just… I wanted to know if I could try to give you one?”

Xena’s lips parted and she felt her heart stupidly accelerating. How the hell did Gabrielle come up with ideas like that? Xena composed herself, smirked, and shook her head. “No, no way,” she answered, laid back on her bedroll and shut her eyes again, hoping it would end the discussion and spare Gabrielle further embarrassment. 

“Please?” she insisted. “I just want to try and I’ll be careful not to hurt you.”

Hurt her? Like if Xena might be afraid of Gabrielle _hurting her_ while doing this. No, that’s not what she was afraid of. Still, she toyed with the idea of saying yes. It was awfully tempting, but _no_. She felt her own face briefly tensing and hoped Gabrielle didn’t see that.

“Gabrielle, I’m tired, we’d better sleep,” she said with a determined voice. “I admit I’m intrigued by your interest in hickeys but I’m not in the mood –”

She couldn’t finish what she was saying, but gasped and opened her eyes at the sensation of soft lips against the skin of her neck. Gabrielle’s golden hair was on her face and shoulder and she laid a single kiss on her neck. Xena’s heart sank. She felt Gabrielle brushing her skin with the top of her nose. All her wise resolutions dissolved instantly. _Go on,_ prayed Xena silently. _Go on._ She didn’t move, hoping Gabrielle would consider it consent enough, but her fighting partner was already moving away. She looked shyly at Xena, and, seeing that she had frozen, slightly shook her head and looked away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and was about to lie down when Xena grasped her upper arm. “No,” she said, and Gabrielle looked back at her. Xena hesitated a moment, frustrated with her own weakness, pursed her lips, and finally said, “Alright, you can do it.”

Gabrielle frowned. “You sure? I don’t want you to feel – ”

“Come on, go ahead,” she said firmly, and pulled away her own hair so Gabrielle could have full access to her neck. She waited, staring at the half-moon above her, wondering at the same moment what kind of trouble she was getting into. It was Gabrielle’s turn to hesitate, apparently, but now Xena would not let her change her mind.

“I’m waiting,” she called with a smile to try and relax the atmosphere.

Seconds after, Gabrielle got closer and gently put her left leg over Xena’s body, ending up sitting on Xena’s hips. _By the Gods_. Xena had to summon all her self-control not to run her hands on Gabrielle's parted thighs. Instead, she carefully rested them on her own chest and ordered them to stay there. She glanced at Gabrielle and saw that she was tying up her hair in a swift movement. _Ever the practical mind_ , Xena thought. Her heart was racing in anticipation. _I should never have agreed. This is going to kill me more surely than any deadly weapon_.

Gabrielle started leaning towards her and their eyes met. This time, Xena saw something in her eyes. Gabrielle had finally realised the level of intimacy of this whole situation and seemed half anxious, half eager. She leaned further and Xena felt her breath in her neck, and then her mouth. Gabrielle kissed her again, and again, slowly and softly, looking for the perfect spot for her enterprise. There was no way Xena’s hands could stay where they were. She buried one of them in Gabrielle’s hair just above her ear and instinctively stroked it with the tip of her fingers. She felt almost in another dimension. This couldn’t be happening, right?

But it was. At some point, Gabrielle seemed to have found the right place. She interrupted her kissing for a few seconds during which they both could hear the sound of their heavy breathing. Then she went for the small spot of skin again and started to suck it gently. Xena’s blood was boiling all over her body, and a moan escaped her lips. _Oh Zeus_. She hadn’t meant to sound so awfully aroused. Hopefully Gabrielle was too focused on her task to have noticed.

After a little while, during which Xena was in a blurry state between agony and ecstasy, Gabrielle stopped and slightly moved away, probably to check whether she managed to leave a mark. Xena couldn’t see her face, but she felt a last kiss just at the same place. “Here,” whispered Gabrielle, and she straightened up. Xena’s hand left her hair but grabbed Gabrielle’s waist to straighten herself at the same time. They faced each other. Despite her efforts, Xena was probably not able to conceal the desire on her face and wondered whether Gabrielle would see it. Gabrielle was smiling shyly and replaced a stroke of her hair behind her ear. Xena noticed that she was shaking a little bit. “Well, thanks for letting me try,” she said. “What did you think?”

Xena sighed very deeply. “What did I think?” she repeated slowly. “I didn’t _think_ anything. But I surely _felt_ a lot of things.”

Gabrielle looked at her, blushing, her smile fainting. Xena could see that she didn’t understand her own feelings. Xena herself didn’t quite know what to do. The tension in the air was suffocating. Finally, Xena leaned to rest her forehead against Gabrielle’s, fighting with herself. “You’re good at this,” she said, and Gabrielle laughed. Xena then chastely kissed her cheek and decided to stop there despite everything. “Let’s sleep now,” she said and Gabrielle removed herself from her and went for her bedroll. Xena ran a hand over her face while she wasn’t looking, trying to shake the emotions off her body, and then lied back down and rolled on the side to look at her friend. The tension had turned into quiet satisfaction.

Xena touched the hickey and felt the sensitive skin under her finger. “Thank you for the gift,” she said, and her heart swelled before Gabrielle’s wide, complete, sincere smile. “My pleasure,” she answered and shut her eyes. Xena stared at her angel-like face for a while, and then shook her head. _One day you’ll push me too far, Gabrielle. One day…_


End file.
